Felting machine



(No Model.) v A. B. WALKING.

I FELTING MACHINE. No. 288,747. Patented Nov. 20, 1883.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR B. VVARING, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN YVARING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. i

FELTlNG-MACHlNEf SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,747, dated November 20, 1883. l Application filed March 6,1883. (No model.)

a new and useful Improvement in Felting-Ma chines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to machines for felting hat-bod ies, although such machines maybe used for felting other articles,

and the invention is applicable both to roller felting-machines, in which the roll of hatbodies or other articles to be felted'is placed in a pocket, cavity, or space formed between;

three or more rollers, and to machines in which the felting or working-surfaces are formed wholly or in part of endless traveling aprons or belts.

2o hat-bodies or other articles, as it is contracted diametrically, has a tendency to elongate, and it has been found that if this elongation of the roll be prevented, the felting operation is greatly expedited. I have discovered that this elongation may be prevented with rolls or working-surfaces of the ordinary straight profile by contracting the space, pocket, or cavity betweenthe rolls or feltingor working surfaces at opposite sides or ends, alter nately; and a very desirable way of producing such contraction of the space, pocket, or cavity is" to give one or more of the rolls, or onejof the other working-surfaces of 'a felting-ma chine, a rocking motion in a direction transverse to their working movement.

My invention, therefore, consists in the combination, with the rolls or other felting or working surfaces of a felting-machine, of means for contracting the pocket, cavity, or space 40 formed between thetrolls or surfaces, alternately, at opposite ends of the rolls, or at op posite sides of the other working-surfaces.

The invention also consists in the combination, with the rolls or other workingsurfaces of a felting-machine, of mechanism for imparting to one or more of the rolls or other work ing-surfaces, a rocking motion in a plane transverse to the direction of the working movement of such rollsor surfaces.

The invention also consists in the combinatiou, with the rolls of a three-roll felting-machine, of mechanism for imparting to the upper roll a rocking motion in a plane coinciand pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of athree-roll felting-machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation thereof in a plane parallel with the axes of the rollers; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a part of a machine, in which the felting-surfaces consist of two endless aprons or belts, and which also embodies my invention. Similar letters ,of reference designate correspond'ing parts in all the figures. V In operating all these machines the roll of i A designates the two side frames of the machine, which are connected by suitable stretchers, and B B designate the two lower rollers, which are mounted infixed bearings in said framesin the usual manner.

O designates the upper roller, which, as usual, is mounted midway between and above the two rollers B, and D designates a shaft eX- tending parallel with the upper rollerand below the two rollers B.

Upon the adjacent ends of all the rollers and the shaft Dare pulleys or wheels a, around or over which passes a driving-chain, b, and by this chain the motion which isimparted to one of the rollers B, by a belt, a, is transmitted to the other rollers.

On opposite sides of the machine are bars or yokes E, which are capable of an upward and downward movement, and are slotted or otherwise so constructed as to fit upon or engage with guides A, projecting from the side frames, A. The bars or yokes E carry 0 the bearings (27 of the upper roller, 0, and the shaft D; but instead of these hearings being fixed in the bars or yokes, as is usually the case, they are pivoted therein by screws 6, which form trunnions, whereon said bearings may swing or turn in a vertical plane.

The bars or yokes E are provided with downward extensions E, which fit in guides f, and by means of atreadle, F, the said bars or yokes and the top roller, 0, and shaft D may be raised 100 7 formed between the rollers.

It willbe understood .that the use of theshaft D,which rises and falls with the upper roller, 0, keeps the driving-chain b taut. This construction is'not original with me.

G designates levers,which are fulcrumed at g, and are provided with adjustable weights G. These levers bear upon the upper ends of the bars or yokes E, and may be forked, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to straddle the upper ends-of the bars or yokes, and thereby be held in place laterally. 1

Upon the shaft D,within the side frames, A, are cams H, as shown in Fig. 2, and immediately below these cams are rollers I, upon which the cams bear, and which are adapted to turn freely on studs h, fixed in the side frames.

The pressure produced by the levers and weights G G holds the cams .H down upon the rollers I, and as the cams and shaft D rotate upon the rollers I, the said shaft and the upper roller, 0, have a rising and falling motion imparted to them, equal in length to the throw of the cams. The cams are set reversely upon the shaft D, so that when the portion of greatest projection of one cam is bearing on its roller, the portion of least projection of the other cam is bearing upon its roller, and hence the yokes or bars E are moved alternately in opposite directions, one moving up while the other is moving down, and vice versa. The consequence of this alternate motion is' that the upper roller, 0, has imparted to. it a rocking motion in a plane, coincident with its axis and transverse to the direction of the working movement of the rollers. The space,pocket,or cavity between the rollers, and which receives the roll of articles to be felted, is thereby c011- tracted at opposite ends alternately, and the elongation of the roll is prevented.

Referring, now, to Fig. 3, J J designate the two endless aprons or belts, which form the working surfaces of the machine. The lower apron or belt, J, is mounted upon rollers t, in.

the usual way, and the upper apron or belt, J, is carried by rollers j which are journaled in a frame, J*. The frame J 2 is suspended or hung by four rods, it, from cranks Z, iiXed upon shafts Z. The two shafts may be journaled in any suitable overhead bearings, and they are connected by a belt, Z so that rotary motion imparted to one of them by a belt, Z will be transmitted to the other.

The cranks Z 011 the corresponding ends of the shafts Z project in the same direction, and in a reverse direction to those cranks at their other corresponding ends. In Fig. 3the cranks on the near side of the machine project down ward, while those on the far side of the machine project upward. Consequently the upper apron or belt has a constant rocking motion in a plane transverse to the direction of its working movement, and the space between the aprons or belts is contracted alternately on opposite sides thereof.

The aprons or belts may have their progressive or working movement imparted to them by any suitable mechanism such as is commonly employed for the purpose, and which I have not thought it necessary to show.

The invention is also applicable to four-roller felting-machines, the two upper rollers having a rising and falling motion imparted simultaneously to opposite ends.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the rolls or other felting or working surfaces of a felting-machine, of means for contracting the pocket, cavity, or space between said rolls or surfaces at oppositeends or sides of the rolls or surfaces alternately, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the rolls or working surfaces of a felting-machine, of mechanism for imparting to one or more of such rolls or surfaces, a rocking motion in aplane transverse to the direction of the working movement of such rolls or surfaces, substantially as and for the purposes described.

'3. The combination,with two rollers mounted in fixed bearings and an upper roller or rollers mounted in a movable bearing or bearings, of devices for imparting a rising and falling motion always in opposite directions to the bearings at opposite ends of the upper roller or rollers, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of the two rollers 13 B, the upper roller, 0, the shaft D, bearings for said upper roller and shaft connected together on each side of the machine, and devices for imparting a rising and falling motion to said bearings for the purpose of rocking said up per roller, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the rollers B B and C, the shaft D, the yokes or bars E, carrying the bearings for the roller 0 and shaft D, the bearing-rollers I, and the cams H, secured in reversed positions on the shaft D, so as to produce a rocking movement of the roller 0 in a plane transverse to the plane of its rotation, substantially as described.

ARTHUR B. WVARING. 

